ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
If you are hooked on catching big trout, Cripple Creek, the pay-fishing steam in Wythe County, is a place to go to fulfill your fantasies.
Gary Reaves of Roanoke says he goes ``nine or 10 times a year,'' but none of the trips ever has been quite like his most recent.
Reaves was using nightcrawlers, letting the stream's flow wash them into the big holes and carry them beneath cut-out banks, where husky brook trout faced upstream watching the current. He caught four citation-size brookies: a 3-pound, 1-ounce; a 2-pound, 15-ounce; a 2-pound, 12-ounce; and a 2-pound, 11-ounce. He had his limit of five fish before 9 a.m., but there was this big, golden rainbow trout that made that kind of success doubtful for a time.
``I stood there and fished and fished for that trout,'' Reaves said. ``I was about to give up on him, but I had this jar of hatchery formula Power Bait and I put some on and he hit it as soon as it hit the water.''
The trout weighed 5 pounds, and that gave Reaves a limit of citations. His fishing buddy, Shane Deanse of Roanoke, landed a citation 2-pound, 5-ounce brook trout.
``That's the next best place to heaven to me,'' Reaves said.
Now that the state has stopped its trout stocking until the fall, Virginia's growing number of pay-fishing facilities help keep the lines of anglers tight. But hot weather will close even some of them.
Edward Wagoner, who operates Pigg River Trophy Trout in Franklin County, is phasing out his program for the summer. Wagoner said he plans to reopen in the fall with a celebration that will include the stocking of scores of big fish.
Cripple Creek (540-686-4505) stays open all year, although there are times during hot, dry weather when the flow gets lower than fishermen prefer.
Lake Back-O-Beyon (977-1880), a new pay-fishing program on Glade Creek in Roanoke County, is scheduled to operate throughout the summer.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries keeps its three pay-fishing areas open until September: Douthat State Park Lake, Crooked Creek and Big Tumbling Creek.
GRAND SLAM: Bob Eakes is a well-known surf-and-sea fisherman who operates the Red Drum tackle shop in Buxton, N.C., but he'd never savored a billfish grand slam until Wayne Wray of Roanoke arrived.
Wray recently fished with Eakes out of Hatteras, N.C., aboard the Bull Frog when two sailfish, a white marlin and a blue marlin were landed. Wray caught and released one of the sailfish and the blue marlin. His sailfish was estimated to weigh 40 pounds; the blue marlin 550 pounds.
There also was some impressive success aboard the Osprey, a craft owned by Frank Garst of Franklin County and docked at Ocracoke, N.C. Fred Iraggi got a 500-pound blue marlin, Glenn Hartman landed two white marlin and Wayne Blankenship got one white marlin. All the anglers were from Franklin County.
Along the coast of Virginia, a cobia run has fishermen believing this will be another summer of excellent catches of this species. The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament already has registered 14 citation catches, the largest a 77-pounder. Some of the best action has been off Buckroe Beach, an area know to the locals as ``back of the beach.''
BRAGGING SIZE: Joe Stacy used a Sassy Shad to land a 32-pound, 12-ounce striped bass, one of the biggest of the season at Smith Mountain Lake. Mike King of Pulaski and Jeff Thompson and Tim Weikel of Radford caught nine striped bass at Claytor Lake that totaled 96 pounds, 4 ounces. James Skidmore of Covington caught a 6-pound, 4-ounce brown trout at Lake Moomaw.
LEND A HAND: The Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club is looking for volunteers to work with the Konnarock Crew, a summer work group that does trail building and maintenance. The crew will be working in the Dragon's Tooth area of Roanoke County today through Monday. If you'd like to give them a hand, call Bob or Kris Peckman at 366-7780.
Other work sessions are scheduled July 11-15 on Brushy Mountain in Bland County and July 18-22 on War Spur in Giles County. Contact Jim Hutchings at 427-4636 for information.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB